Chaos

Hunger

Meriwa

Meri awoke to find herself ravenous and alone in bed. A bed that she didn't immediately recognize. Then she remembered that she and Daryl were in New York, in the Knight Corp apartment penthouse that Carbry owned. The entire building was Knight Corp, a satellite site for everything that happened this far away from New Orleans. She had gone with Daryl to one of his building sites because they knew Ryker and Carbry needed time on their own to heal the aches and bruises between them. Though Meriwa suspected that this would be her last major trip before the twins, especially without Ryker or Carbry.

For some reason, their mates hated leaving her and Daryl alone since they realized they were 'joined' or whatever the word Sam's demon had used to describe Meri and the cowboy just being extra best friends.

Ryker had said their bond was weird, and Car had implied the same thing. Meri saw nothing weird about it. In fact, she just felt almost like the two of them always did before she'd gotten pregnant with their babies. They were just...best friends who loved each other desperately. Sure, it was easier for them to talk about and understand things now, but it was just because they were so close.

But, despite her understanding of him, Daryl wasn't in bed and she realized how hungry she was suddenly, which wasn't a surprise considering how unfulfilled she'd been feeling lately. It had to mean that she wasn't getting a rounded enough diet and her body was craving something more. Maybe she'd try to figure out how to work more veggies into her diet or something.

Distracted by curiosity over Daryl's whereabouts, Meriwa frowned as she scooted herself out of bed, grabbing her robe from where it was slung over a bedpost and slipping it over herself, in part to hide her now visibly larger stomach. She rubbed her hand over it, loving the idea of knowing that her children were in there, growing inside her, yet she wasn't sure about the fact that she was starting to look so... different.

Silently, she left the room, searching for Daryl and somehow knowing he'd be in the kitchen. It was where she wanted to be, too.

She found him standing there with just the above-oven light on, absently eating a slice of pizza as he leaned over the counter naked and fiddling with his phone. Upon hearing her, Daryl looked up and offered her a sheepish grin as he set his phone down.

"Did I wake you, Mer? I'm sorry." Her heart stuttered at the sight of him nude in her kitchen even as he took another bite of pizza. Upon seeing him eating, her stomach growled loudly, and a sharp pang of hunger hit her, drawing a frown to her face and a scowl to Daryl's.

He spoke first. "You're so hungry, Mer."

Meriwa nodded. "But I ate dinner, and I even had that huge snack before we went to bed."

Still frowning, Daryl walked over and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to the counter and the lone kitchen light. "You're famished, though, hon. Here."

He shoved his unfinished slice of pizza into her hand, and Meri found herself so hungry that she didn't even argue, consuming the thing in seconds while Daryl moved her to lean against the counter, then turned to dig through the fridge some more.

Another pang of hunger hit her, and Meri frowned at the same time Daryl did. She was still so-

"You're still starving." Daryl said with worry while pulling the pizza box out of the fridge and setting it on the counter next to her.

When she didn't immediately dive into the box, Daryl opened it for her, grabbed a slice and held it out. Meri looked at the pizza and couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling in disgust. She'd eaten the slice Daryl had given her before because it was food, but it had tasted like nothing.